Author Archives: Mark Rasch

Gotta Book – Supreme Court Rules that Generic Words Coupled With Domain Suffix May Have Trademark Protection

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On June 30, the U.S. Supreme Court held  that the company Booking.com could hold a valid federal trademark in the name “Booking.com” even though the term “booking” is a generic term for making a reservation. The case recognizes that the addition of a domain suffix like .com can transform something generic into something descriptive. The case is…

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No Trespassing: Facebook Sues for Data Scraping

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On June 18, Facebook filed a civil lawsuit in a federal court in San Francisco against online mobile platform Massroot8 for “scraping” data about Facebook users in violation of both Facebook’s Terms of Service (ToS) and therefore as criminal trespass … Continue reading No Trespassing: Facebook Sues for Data Scraping→

POST Haste – NYC Proposes Law to Require NYPD Disclose ALL Surveillance Techniques

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Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? In the wake of allegations that the Customs and Border Patrol was running surveillance drones over protest sites in Minnesota and other places, and that government agencies were collecting cell phone data about those who attended BLM protests, that law enforcement agencies are arresting people based on faulty facial recognition algorithm, or that police are…

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What A Tulsa BLM Protesters Arrest Tells Us About Computer Crime

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This is not a political rant. I promise. Tulsa teacher Shelia Buck was arrested outside the President’s rally after campaign officials saw that she was wearing a t-shirt that said “I Can’t Breathe” and had her kicked out of a secure zone outside the rally and arrested for “trespassing” and charged with “obstruction,” despite having…

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Recent Cases Question Backdoor Encryption

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Recent events are calling into question the necessity of computer backdoors and the future of our personal privacy U.S. law enforcement for decades has decried the “going dark” problem with computers and computer technologies. If anyone can secure the… Continue reading Recent Cases Question Backdoor Encryption→

Federal Court Rules that Location Privacy Rights Depend on Technology Used to Invade It

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Do you have a reasonable expectation of privacy in your whereabouts outside such that the government needs to get a search warrant to invade it? Magic 8 ball says — situation unclear, ask again later. While the U.S. Supreme Court has held that a warrant issued by a judge is necessary to install a GPS…

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The Department of Justice is Going After Tech Platforms With Threats of Criminal Prosecution and Removal of Immunity if they DO and if they DON’T Block Speech the Government Doesn’t Like

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On June 17, the Department of Justice released its proposed guidelines for making social media entities and carriers liable for the contents of what third parties post on their sites. The proposal would make these providers liable for not censoring content, and liable if they do. The proposal would make social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, TikTok,…

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Qualified Impunity – Federal Appeals Court Rules

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No Constitutional Right to Information Privacy from Police Disclosure of Sexual Assault Victim Information to the Press On June 15, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up the issue of “qualified immunity” of law enforcement officers for alleged misconduct, leaving in place the doctrine that says that even when police commit egregious misconduct,…

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When Tech Giants Commit Cyber Crimes; eBay’s Campaign of Threats and Harassment Leads to Criminal Charges in Boston

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For $12.98 (or best offer) you can buy live adult hissing Madagascar cockroaches on eBay. For 15.95 you can buy a bloody pig mask. Forty bucks gets you a funeral wreath. $38 bucks gets you a preserved fetal pig. Or you can save the money, and just write negative articles about the San Jose online…

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Privacy and Morality: Data’s Double-Edged Sword

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When security professionals think of “good” data and “bad” data, we think of things including accuracy, reliability, recency and applicability. But a more significant question is about data collection and use. All too often we focus our attention on d… Continue reading Privacy and Morality: Data’s Double-Edged Sword→